How Often Should You Vacuum?

Here’s the thing about keeping a clean home: The work never really ends. While it can seem daunting that you have to keep doing the same cleaning tasks over and over again, there are some major benefits to sticking to a consistent cleaning schedule. That’s especially true with vacuuming. The more often you vacuum, the less effort you’ll have to put in each time to go over the same spots again and again. Plus, vacuuming can greatly improve the overall hygiene of your home, removing lingering dirt, dust, and pollen that can especially cause issues for those with asthma and allergies.

But, just how often should you vacuum? Like many home cleaning rules, the answer depends on a few different factors. So, here’s a general guide on how often to vacuum different areas of your home.

How Often to Vacuum Your Entryway

Entryways might be one of the most important places to vacuum frequently. Since they’re high-traffic areas and they’re the first spot you enter from the outside—tracking in dirt, dust, and debris—these areas need extra attention. Ideally, you should try to vacuum your entryway two to three times weekly.

How Often to Vacuum Your Living Room

Living rooms are also high-traffic areas in the home that get a lot of wear and tear. If you have a large household, especially with small children or pets running around, your living room is probably one of the most frequented spots in your home. Living rooms should also be vacuumed at least twice a week. It’s also a good idea to vacuum kitchens at the same frequency, along with any other mopping or spot treating you have to deal with food spills.

How Often to Vacuum Your Bedroom

Bedrooms, while they’re used daily, and serve a highly important role, typically don’t quite get as much traffic from everyone in your household and every visitor that comes by. So, it’s okay to vacuum these rooms a bit less frequently, about once a week. However, it’s worth noting that you may want to increase this frequency based on other factors beside the amount of traffic the room gets.

For example, if you have allergies or asthma, vacuuming more frequently can help get rid of potential irritants and ease your symptoms. In the same vain, if you sleep with a pet on the bed, you’ll also want to wash your bedding more often.

How Often Should You Vacuum Carpet vs. Other Flooring

Another factor that can impact how often you should be vacuuming is the type of floors you have. In general carpeted floors will need vacuuming more often, since the fibers can trap in dust, dirt, and pollen more easily. Hardwood floors, vinyl flooring, or laminate flooring won’t need quite as much attention. However, if you live in an older home and your flooring has a lot of cracks and crevices that can more easily collect dirt, you may want to consider vacuuming more often.